Monday, September 12, 2011

After five long days away from the gym, I was looking forward to joining my fellow 5 a.m. nutjobs at CrossFit Palo Alto today. Alas, M was at work, and my in-laws weren't available this morning, so I was grounded again. I wish I could say I slept in, but like clockwork, my eyes popped open at 4:20 a.m. Groaning, I pulled the covers over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

Another bummer: I missed the triumphal return of XFitMama. Despite giving birth less than two months ago, she's already in full-on beast mode: She did the WOD as RXed on her first day back at the gym. (Not a surprise, considering that this is the same firebreather who was doing WODs with unassisted pull-ups while nine months pregnant.)

Despite missing the 5 a.m. class, I was determined not to skip another day at the gym. I'd considered (for about a half-second) being a smart, reasonable person and resting my ankle, but I'm pretty sure I would've gone stir crazy if I'd stayed away. So in the end, I moved heaven and earth (otherwise known as a meeting and a conference call) in order to hit the noon class at the gym.

The class was packed with familiar faces; it was great to hang out with Lawyerhands (who thoughtfully brought me a bag filled with OldSkoolBoarder's various ankle braces), Carol (who occasionally pops in at 5 a.m.), Alma, Carmela, Jimmy and others. It was also oddly gratifying to see that I wasn't the only one with a bum foot in class today. Two(!) others were hobbling around due to extracurricular injuries, and during warm-ups, the three of us formed a sad little group in the corner, unable to do jumping jacks and high-knees.

Strength Skill:

Cleans (5-5-5-3-3)

Jimmy (who also has a sprained ankle) and I paired up and got through two ankle-jarring sets of cleans before we hung it up. Tim had us practice kettlebell cleans instead, which -- while a nice change of pace -- aren't quite as fun as squat-cleaning a barbell. Then again, I'm biased: I discovered today that I kind of suck at kettlebell cleans. Another skill to practice!

Metcon:

"9/11" - 5 rounds for time:

9 push-presses (95lbs / 65lbs)

11 knees-to-elbows

I did a few push-presses yesterday in the garage, and they were less than comfortable whenever I dipped and forced my ankles to flex. But for whatever reason (maybe because I took Tim up on his offer to treat my ankle by yanking on my foot before class?), my push-presses were surprisingly decent. This isn't to say that I was particular fast or graceful during today's WOD. On more than one occasion, I tipped forward at the top of my presses, which lifted me awkwardly onto my toes. And starting in the third round, I had to dump the bar a couple of times mid-set, which slowed me down considerably. My knees-to-elbows weren't super-fast, either -- but on the plus side, I didn't further wreck my hands.